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Winter Olympics betting guide for 2024

Held every four years, the Winter Olympics pays tribute to the greatest sports practiced on snow and ice, from alpine skiing to ice hockey. Canada has been the proud host of the Winter Olympics twice now, but this year the torch has been handed over to China, who will host the 19-day competition from February 4.

For sports betting fans, there are a whole host of exciting online betting options to choose from. In our guide, we’ll take you through how to bet on the Winter Olympics, from how odds work to best bets.

Top Winter Olympics betting sites in Canada

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Canada’s top sportsbook
1
4.5 /5
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Excellent
C$200 Bonus
  • Check icon Win Rate: 100%
  • Check icon Payout Speed: 24 hrs

Pros

  • Check icon Dozens of sports to bet on
  • Check icon Dedicated sports betting app
  • Check icon Specific esports promotions

Cons

  • Check icon FAQs section is lacking

Payments

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Best betting odds
2
3.9 /5
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Good
None Bonus
  • Check icon Win Rate: 100%
  • Check icon Payout Speed: 5 days

Pros

  • Check icon Lowest margin sports odds
  • Check icon Dedicated esports section
  • Check icon Multi View live betting option

Cons

  • Check icon Lack of bonuses & promos
  • Check icon No horse racing betting

Payments

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Best navigation
3
4.3 /5
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Great

Coming soon

C$1,000 Bonus
  • Check icon Win Rate: 97.17%
  • Check icon Payout Speed: 24 hrs
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Coming soon

Pros

  • Check icon Very modern sportsbook
  • Check icon Low bonus wager requirement
  • Check icon Personalized sports betting

Cons

  • Check icon Promotions aren’t so regular

Payments

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4
4.1 /5
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Great
N/A Bonus
  • Check icon Games: 1,500+
  • Check icon Win Rate: 96.20%
  • Check icon Payout Speed: 1-5 days

Pros

  • Check icon Mobile apps for Android and iOS
  • Check icon eSports betting markets
  • Check icon 24/7 live chat

Cons

  • Check icon Poor VIP program
  • Check icon Live chat only in English
  • Check icon Not many payment methods

Payments

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5
4.2 /5
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Great
C$300 Bonus
  • Check icon Win Rate: 100%
  • Check icon Payout Speed: 24 hrs

Pros

  • Check icon Large sports betting selection
  • Check icon Dedicated sports betting app
  • Check icon Huge selection of promotions

Cons

  • Check icon No live chat support

Payments

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Best racebook
6
4.1 /5
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Great
C$125 Bonus
  • Check icon Win Rate: 97.22%
  • Check icon Payout Speed: 3 days

Pros

  • Check icon Refer-a-friend bonus offer
  • Check icon Stylish sportsbook design
  • Check icon Separate racebook section

Cons

  • Check icon Few esports betting options

Payments

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7
4.0 /5
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Great
C$300 Bonus
  • Check icon Win Rate: 100%
  • Check icon Payout Speed: 1-2 days

Pros

  • Check icon 1,000 daily sports events
  • Check icon Dedicated esports section
  • Check icon 24/7 customer support

Cons

  • Check icon Limited VIP program

Payments

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8
3.8 /5
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Good
C$500 Bonus
  • Check icon Win Rate: 100%
  • Check icon Payout Speed: 48 hrs

Pros

  • Check icon Leading sports odds
  • Check icon Fast and easy to navigate
  • Check icon Daily promos & free bets

Cons

  • Check icon No live streaming available

Payments

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9
3.9 /5
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Good
C$1,000 Bonus
  • Check icon Win Rate: 100%
  • Check icon Payout Speed: 5 days

Pros

  • Check icon Big variety of sports markets
  • Check icon Award-winning mobile app
  • Check icon Great sports betting promos

Cons

  • Check icon Slightly confusing sports page

Payments

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10
3.9 /5
Info icon
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Good
C$200 Bonus
  • Check icon Win Rate: 100%
  • Check icon Payout Speed: 1-3 days

Pros

  • Check icon Multiple live betting options
  • Check icon Very appealing site design
  • Check icon Quick payout times

Cons

  • Check icon Deposit & withdrawal fees
  • Check icon Customer support is not 24/7

Payments

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How to bet on the Winter Olympics

  1. So, you’ve decided to place a bet on the Winter Olympics. First up, you need to pick a site (choose from our list of recommended sportsbooks above) to get started.
  2. Go straight to the 'Sign Up' button – it should be fairly easy to find on the operator’s homepage.
  3. Fill in the registration form with your personal details and info.
  4. At this point, you may be asked to provide security questions and answers to give your account added protection.
  5. Create a username and password.
  6. If you have a promo code for a welcome bonus, now is the time to enter it when prompted.
  7. Agree to the sportsbook’s T&Cs, and don’t forget to verify your age.

An introduction to the Winter Olympics

To get you started with Winter Olympics betting in Canada, we’ve put together some of the key facts about the globally popular event:

  • Winter Olympics - Fact 1

    After the success of re-establishing the Summer Olympics, a winter version was thought up and first held in 1924

  • Winter Olympics - Fact 2

    Only sports that are played on snow or ice can be part of the Winter Olympics

  • Winter Olympics - Fact 3

    Canada, as noted above, has twice hosted the Winter Olympics. Calgary in Alberta was chosen in 1988 and Vancouver in British Columbia for the 2010 Games

  • Winter Olympics - Fact 4

    Until 1992, the Summer and Winter Olympics were held in the same year at four-year intervals

  • Winter Olympics - Fact 5

    In order to space out Olympic events more, the Winter Games were moved to two years through a Summer cycle starting in 1994

  • Winter Olympics - Fact 6

    The United States is the only nation to have hosted four different Winter Olympics

  • Winter Olympics - Fact 7

    Sports can be added or removed from the Winter Olympics calendar as per the International Olympic Committee (IOC) selection policy

How Winter Olympics odds work

Before placing a bet on Olympic skiing or bobsledding, it’s crucial that you’re fully up to speed with how Winter Olympics odds work. The first thing you should know is that the most popular sports (more on those below) will be priced up on betting sites.

Let’s work through a typical example:

Canada
Canada
2.10
United States
United States
2.75

In this instance, Canada are playing the US at ice hockey – hardly surprisingly given both countries have representation in the NHL.

You can see that Canada are the clear favourites to win as their price is smaller. If you were to wager C$10 on them, you would win C$11, with the total payout being C$21. Meanwhile, the US are the betting underdogs. For every C$4 you stake, the return is C$11 – C$7 of which is profit.

Ties can also occur, but at the Winter Olympics, an ice hockey match may need to have a winner say if it’s for a gold medal.

In this example, we have shown the odds in the decimal format, as this is the most common and easiest format to compare prices. Of course, you may also see odds displayed in the American moneyline system, while some bookmakers may prefer to use fractions.

Have a go using our odds calculator to see the different odds types and to calculate potential winnings.

Popular Winter Olympics bets

There are many different ways you can bet on the Winter Olympics. If you’re not new to sports betting, you should already be familiar with many (if not all) of these bet types.

Moneyline

Like in sports betting, the moneyline bet simple involves you picking a winner – in the case of the Winter Olympics, the winner of an individual sport or team event. To know which team or sport is the favourite and which is the underdog, simply look for the symbol – if there’s a plus sign (+), it’s the underdog, whereas a minus sign (-) denotes the favourite.

Point spread

Also known as handicap betting, you’ll find examples of this kind of bet in team sports such as ice hockey at the Winter Olympics. In a point spread bet, you’re wagering on the point margin, set by sportsbooks, between two teams. The favourite must win by a certain number of points, while the underdog can lose by fewer than that same number of points, or win outright.

Totals bet

In the Olympics, a totals bet looks at the total number of gold medals each country will win. The sportsbook will set the number and then you have to determine whether the nation in question will win ‘over’ or ‘under’ the set number given. There are also head-to-head bets, whereby two nations are pitted against each other, and you have to decide which one you think will win more gold medals.

Futures betting

In the run up to the Olympics, sportsbooks will begin releasing a whole host of futures betting options for excited punters. One of the most popular is betting on which country will win the most gold medals. Small tip, it’s worth betting on this market sooner rather than later as the odds will only get smaller as the event draws nearer!

Parlays

Rather than placing just one bet, parlay bets allow you to make multiple bets in the same wager. You can use different bet types, including moneyline, point spread and totals, as well as place bets on teams across different sports. The more picks you have, the bigger the payout will be, but be warned – the risk is far greater, as if just one pick loses, then the whole bet is lost.

Props

When it comes to Olympics prop bets, or proposition bets, sportsbooks tend to go all out. You can bet on events happening during the competition as well as away from it, such as how many medals a country or individual will win, or even something as obscure as whether a certain athlete will wave at the podium.

Live betting

You can now place bets on major sporting events like the Winter Olympics while the sport is actually happening.
What’s great about this market is that it allows you to take advantage of changing odds while you’re watching. Lookout for ice hockey live betting odds among others during the Winter Games to enhance your experience of seeing the action unfold.

Popular Winter Olympics sports to bet on

Now that you’ve got an understanding of how odds work and the different bet types, the next step is choosing which sport to bet on. If you’re new to Olympics betting, or even sports betting in general, we’d recommend betting on the sports that you know rather than those that you don’t – knowledge is king in sports betting, after all!

  • Ice hockey

    Ice hockey

    As noted above, Olympic ice hockey is a very popular sport for Winter Olympics betting in Canada. You can bet on individual match winners or who will win the gold medal.

    Points spread and total goals markets are also available on ice hockey as standard. Remember, futures betting sits side by side with wagers like these.

    Eg: Canada to beat
    the United States
    2.10
    Canada
  • Figure skating

    Figure skating

    Futures betting should be available on which individual or couple will win gold in their respective disciplines.

    Eg: Jayne Torvill and
    Christopher Dean
    to win the pairs ice dance
    5.00
    Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean
  • Curling

    Curling

    Curling is a team sport where stones are slid across a sheet of ice. Brooms are used to sweep the ice in front of a stone into a target made of concentric circles.

    Although a somewhat niche sport, curling is curiously exciting and futures betting should be available on the competing countries.

    Eg: Team GB to win
    2.88
    Team GB to win
  • Skiing

    Skiing

    The Winter Olympics doesn’t get more traditional than this. There are many different types of skiing discipline and betting exists on alpine, cross-country and Nordic combined events.

    Eg: Deborah Compagnoni
    to win the women’s
    giant slalom
    2.50
    Deborah Compagnoni
  • Snowboarding

    Snowboarding

    As with skiing, there are several different events you can bet on at the Winter Olympics when it comes to snowboarding, including parallel, half-pipe, cross and slopestyle events. Take your pick.

    Eg: Shaun White to win
    the men’s half-pipe
    3.25
    Shaun White
  • Biathlon

    Biathlon

    Combining cross-country skiing and rifle shooting sounds like something out of an old James Bond film. The biathlon is a very popular Winter Olympics event, though, and there are many different versions of it.

    Sprints, pursuits, relays and mass starts are all held alongside individual disciplines. Biathlon betting is surprisingly lively during the Winter Games.

    Eg: Martin Fourcade
    to win the men’s pursuit
    2.38
    Martin Fourcade
  • Ski jumping

    Ski jumping

    When it comes to ski jumping, there’s the normal hill and the large hill. The further you jump, the more points you get. Jumpers compete as individuals and as a team for their country.

    Wind assistance can have a huge hand in this sport, and that’s always something to think about when betting on it.

    Eg: Kamil Stoch
    to win the men’s
    individual large hill
    3.75
    Kamil Stoch
  • Bobsleigh and skeleton

    Bobsleigh and skeleton

    Like the luge, hurtling downhill in a bobsleigh or skeleton can give the sportsmen and women who do it a real adrenaline rush. Crews can be up to and including four people. The aim is to make yourself or collectively as streamline as possible.

    Whichever individual or crew makes it down the course fastest wins. You should find plenty of skeleton and bobsleigh betting during the Winter Olympics.

    Eg: Canada to win
    the two-women bob
    7.00
    Canada

Winter Olympics betting bonuses

One thing you should definitely getting when engaging with Winter Olympics betting are bonuses. Broadly speaking, there are three different types available to you:

  • Welcome bonus

    Welcome bonus

    • A welcome bonus is more or less what is says on the tin: something that incentivizes you for joining a betting site
    • It’s practically a universal expectation that sportsbooks will offer you something for signing up
    • All the best Winter Olympics betting sites have these, but make sure you understand the terms and use a promo code if needed to get it
  • Enhanced odds

    Enhanced odds

    • Enhanced odds, also called price boosts or flash odds, give extra value on an anticipated outcome
    • Unlike welcome bonuses, these should be available to both new and existing customers of a betting site
    • Such enhanced odds may only be available for a limited time, so you need to get your bets on quickly
  • VIP club

    VIP club

    • If you regularly place wagers on a certain betting site, many now want to reward your loyal custom through a VIP Club
    • Provided you opt in and meet the terms by placing a number of qualifying bets in the specified timeframe, you can get weekly bonuses
    • A VIP Club isn’t as exclusive as it sounds. What’s great about them is they’re open to both new and existing customers prepared to bet regularly

Winter Olympics betting apps

One of the major developments in gambling of recent times is the advent of mobile betting. The huge benefit of mobile gambling is that it enables gamblers to place their bets on the go, with the majority of sportsbooks now offering dedicated apps which can be downloaded for both Android and iOS devices.

These apps are similar to the mobile version of the sportsbook, but give you an even more streamlined gambling experience, making it as easy and convenient as possible to place a bet.

Mobile Winter Olympics Betting

How we review the best Winter Olympics betting sites

  • A <strong>safe and secure</strong> gambling environment so you can bet with confidence

    A safe and secure gambling environment so you can bet with confidence

  • <strong>Bonuses</strong> for signing up and other offers to keep you coming back for more

    Bonuses for signing up and other offers to keep you coming back for more

  • Helpful <strong>customer service</strong> that’s available around the clock and in many forms

    Helpful customer service that’s available around the clock and in many forms

  • Great choice of Winter Olympics odds so you can <strong>bet</strong> on all the action both before it
                            starts and live

    Great choice of Winter Olympics odds so you can bet on all the action both before it starts and live

  • Fully <strong>licensed</strong> sites which have got the gambling authorities’ seal of approval

    Fully licensed sites which have got the gambling authorities’ seal of approval

Winter Olympics 2022 info

You can find a full breakdown of the latest news, info and schedule on the Olympics site, but here are the essential facts:

Dates of event: February 4-20, 2022

Location: Beijing, China (at various venues)

No. of events: 109

No. of sports disciplines: 15 across seven sports (biathlon, bobsleigh, curling, ice hockey, luge, skating and skiing)

How to watch: CBS Sports site & app, Radio-Canada Sports site & app, CBS Gem, ICI TOU.TV

More on sports betting

FAQs

When is the Winter Olympics 2022?

The Winter Olympics 2022 will take place from February 4-20, 2022, in Beijing. It is the first city to host both the Summer and Winter editions of the Olympics. The Winter Paralympics will take place from March 4-13.

How can you watch the Winter Olympics in Canada?
Are any countries boycotting the Games?
How do you bet on the Winter Olympics?
Which sports are the most popular for Winter Olympic bets?
What are the best bets?
What is Winter Olympics live betting?
Is Winter Olympics betting legal in Canada?

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